Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers prepares to take a shot in the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs0 during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Michael Reaves | fake images
This is Netflix’s first real foray into traditional live sports, driven by the company’s ambitions to increase its advertising level. The company signed a deal earlier this year with WWE to be the home of its live “Raw” events, but Netflix called that deal “sports entertainment.” Unlike WWE, Netflix’s deal for the NFL Christmas games does not include a full production team. That left the streamer looking for help.
Netflix has been in contact with broadcasters currently airing NFL games, including disney ESPN, Comcast NBCUniversal and Paramount Global CBS Sports, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions have been private. Disney won’t produce the games because it already has college football obligations on the same day, two of the people said.
No in-depth conversations have begun with the other broadcasters, but Netflix options may be somewhat limited.
Fox and CBS Sports already produce several games in different regions each week, which could make taking on additional games for Netflix a burden, some of the people said.
You also have to consider the competition.
Amazon signed an agreement with NBCUniversal to produce your NFL games ahead of its first season of “Thursday Night Football” in 2022, but there may be more resistance among current NFL partners to helping Netflix, according to people familiar with the matter. That’s because Netflix could be auditioning as a future long-term media rights partner for NFL games rather than a legacy media company, like Paramount. Fox or NBC.
The NFL has a exit clause in its current media contracts that allow it to select new media partners after the 2029-30 season.
Representatives for Netflix, the NFL, NBCUniversal, CBS, ESPN and Fox declined to comment.
Netflix announced its entry into the NFL in mid-May forward from its Upfront presentation, when it tried to attract advertisers to its burgeoning ad-supported platform. Netflix said last month has arrived 40 million global active users for its advertising tier, which costs $6.99 per month in the US and debuted in November 2022.
In May, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told CNBC that the NFL was the right fit for Netflix because it matched the streamer’s events strategy, effectively allowing Netflix to own the day. Netflix will pay the NFL approximately $75 million per game, CNBC previously reported reported.
For the NFL, Netflix represents an opportunity to reach a younger global audience. There is also the potential to lay the groundwork for Netflix to become a future bidder on a larger package of games.
The NFL signed long-term agreements in 2021 with Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Fox and Amazon for its five main game packages.
While there is some trepidation among current media partners about producing games for a potential rival, pressure from the league (and a hefty paycheck from Netflix) could convince broadcasters to strike a deal, according to people familiar with The issue.
“There aren’t many players in the space that are capable of doing this at a level that you want to rely on when you’re jumping in as a new partner in a league as big as the NBA or the NFL,” Shirin said. Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at law firm Perkins Coie, added that the production side “can be a big hole for streaming partners.”
Netflix and the league are looking to mirror the partnership Amazon’s Prime Video formed with Comcast’s NBC Sports for “Thursday Night Football” games.
While NBC Sports’ Fred Gaudelli produced the 2022 season of “Thursday Night Football,” Amazon appointed Mark Teitelmanone of its own employees, to the position of lead game producer in 2023.
Amazon produces all of its pregame, halftime and postgame coverage, but NBC Sports is in charge of the extensive production work that goes into an NFL game and employs the vast majority of those workers.
Netflix is interested in finding a similar partner, according to people familiar with its plans.
If a deal cannot be reached with one of the incumbents, Netflix could find other options with outside producers. Endeavor Group Holdings’ IMG is the production partner for Major League Soccer, offered through Apple.
“It’s not easy to do an NFL game at the level that people are used to seeing, which is a very high level and well produced,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Integrated Media, which specializes in digital media investments. . “But there are a number of options that can achieve this without (Netflix) having a fully staffed sports division.”
Amazon Prime Video was the first streamer to gain exclusive rights to NFL games as the league pushed to expand its media partners and have more streaming offerings to expand its audience.
Amazon reached a deal to stream “Thursday Night Football” in 2021 along with the rest of the media rights deals for the NFL — an 11-year deal. media rights agreement valued at more than $100 billion, with an opt-out clause after seven years.
Given recent negotiations over NBA media rights, which are attracting big money from various media companies, many in and around the industry expect the NFL to exercise the clause and seek new partners.
Since the NFL signed its deal, streaming services from Comcast, ESPN and Paramount have begun simulcasting games and, in some cases, hosting games exclusively. Alphabet YouTube TV is also the new home from the Sunday Ticket game pack.
Sports, particularly the NFL, have been the glue that holds the traditional television package together and have also proven to be a boost for streaming. NBCUniversal said in April its exclusive NFL Wild Card game on Peacock helped add and then retain more customers than expected.
The league has expressed a desire to add more broadcast partners in an effort to expand its audience.
That was the idea behind the deal with Netflix to stream these Christmas Day games.
When negotiations over the rights to Sunday Ticket were underway, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC the long-standing package offered only by DirecTV would move to streaming.
“I think that’s what’s best for consumers at this stage,” Goodell said at the time.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.